A Tough Shell
by Ramen030
Summary: Raph and his brothers save an orphan girl from some creepy guys on the streets. Discovering she's homeless, they decide to take her home, where Raph finds out he actually likes her company. Slowly, they grow closer, but will a relationship work? NB: Although the world is set in the Nick series, I decided to make everyone about three years older. Made more sense, in my head :p
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Take that, you creepy bastard!" I cringed at the sound of flesh bumping into flesh and a fight. What the hell was going on? It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark and even after that, I didn't seem to be seeing right. Only a moment ago, I had been cornered by some guys who to chat with me, and now, they were getting their ass handed to them by... lizards? Turtles? Four guys in a green costume? What the hell? "Stay back!" one of the creatures called out. "Yeah, thanks, I wasn't really planning on getting involved.." I mumbled to myself. "What the hell is go-" A hand was suddenly clasped over my mouth and my words were cut off. Now what? I thought. First I get mugged, then some weirdoes in green costumes show up and now this guy thinks he can take me on, huh? I opened my mouth wide and bit. "Aargh!" the guy cried. He looked up at me in anger. "Oh, I'm gonna make you regret that, you little bitch!" "Not before _we_ are gonna make you regret bothering her first!" a voice sounded, just before he was hit on the hit with a... staff? My night turned out to involve a lot of 'What the hells'. Startled, I fell back on the ground. Damnit, one of my eyes had been hit, I could already feel the swelling coming on. Great. Another injury to explain at school. "You okay?" I opened my not-black eye and looked up. "What the..." I mumbled. "It's not Halloween, you know." "We know", a rough, low voice sounded. "Though you could still thank us, ya know. We kinda saved your butt there." "Well, geez, sorry I hadn't gotten over the fact that you're walking around looking all weird!" "Well, these 'weirdoes' saved you. Might wanna be thankful!" "Seriously, you're lecturing me?" I stood up angrily, ignoring the extended - and green, three-fingered - hand. "You're saying I don't have the right?" "No, you don't! Who the hell do you even think you are, you freak!" The guy - thing - creature... whatever cracked his knuckles. Green-brown eyes, surrounded by a frown, were looking at me, rage barely hidden inside them. "You wanna go, huh?" the creature rumbled. "HUH?" "Raph!" The one with the blue mask grabbed his arm. "Leave her alone!" "Didn't you hear what she said? She just insulted us!" "She's just startled!" "Well, I'll smack some-" "Knock it off!" The guy with the purple mask. He seemed nice. Still weird, though. He stepped forward. "Sorry about that, Raph's got a bit of a temper..." I looked over his shoulder. "Might be a bit of an understatement." The purple-masked one snorted. "We know." He extended his hand. I looked at it doubtfully. "Donatello", he introduced himself. I took his hand and smiled. "Dana. Nice to meet you. And ehm..." I looked at my feet. I hated thanking people. "Thanks. You know, for saving me and all." Donatello smiled. "No problem!" "So, care to tell me what exactly..." ... you are? was how I planned to finish that sentence but the chance was taken away from me as a fourth green guy crashed into me. "Do you like pizza?" he asked screaming. "Mikey! Get off of her! She's scared enough as it is!" the blue one said. "I'm not scared!" I said indignantly. "I'm just... surprised." "Yeah, right", the red one snorted. "So that's why you screamed." I glared at him. "What's your problem, knucklehead?" "Hey!" Mikey said. "I said: do you like pizza?" He was still hugging me. He reminded me a bit of my younger brother, and the thought made me smile. "Yeah, I do." "Awesome! Wanna have some at our place?" "Mikey!" it sounded from three mouths. "What?" "Just let her go, OK?" Donatello said. "Oh, right... Sorry!" Mikey grinned, got up and offered me his hand. I took it without hesitating. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all. "So, anyway - we're turtles", Donatello continued as if nothing had interrupted him. Guess he was used to Mikey's behaviour. Now that he mentioned it, I noticed the things on their backs. I had taken it for armour but apparently, I'd been wrong. Well, not completely right, anyway. I guess their shells functioned as some sort of armour. "Explains the shells", I answered. Donatello smiled. "Leonardo", the one with the blue mask introduced himself. "Sorry about Raph, he's got-" "Quite a temper, yeah, Donatello mentioned it", I laughed. "Just Donnie, please." I looked at him and rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry", I grinned. "Didn't know you guys had nicknames. Anyway..." They were all looking at me now. I noticed how Donatello - no, Donnie - was the tallest of the one. Leo was clearly the leader here; the way he was carrying himself said enough. Mikey was evidently the youngest one, and it wasn't just his behaviour that told me that. It was also visible in the way the rest stood around him, protecting him from whatever danger might come. It reminded me much of my own family. I felt moisture collecting at my eyes and quickly wiped the tears away. I didn't mind showing weakness; I did mind, however, when I'd be showing it to guys I didn't know, and particularly when those guys turned out to be a failed experiment of some kind. I still didn't know for sure if I could trust them. I sighed. "Thanks. For... for saving me." I gave the red one - he hadn't introduced himself but he could only be Raph - a long stare, to make sure he wasn't gonna complain about me not thanking them. "I really would've been in some trouble if you hadn't shown up." "No problem, Dana", Donnie said. "Yeah, don't mention it!" Mikey responded. Suddenly, a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Unless... you're gonna reward us with pizza?!" Merely the thought had him drooling. "Mikey!" Raph - short for Raphael, I assumed - punched him in the head. I smiled. So he had some sort of feeling for appropriate behaviour. I laughed. "No, actually, that might be a good idea, I'm hungry anyway. Pizza is on me, OK?" Suddenly, my ribs got crushed in a terrifyingly strong embrace. "I love you, Dana", Mikey said gleefully. I smiled, a little awkward. The rest just rolled their eyes. Guess this wasn't new to them, either. I managed to pull Mikey off of me. "Let's go!"

As the turtles gobbled up their pizza, I enjoyed the view. Leo had insisted on eating pizza on the rooftops, as they were too exposed down on the streets. Guess that made sense. I'd never seen New York from such a high place, and I loved it. You could see for miles from here, admire the whole skyline which had a perfectly clear sky filled with stars and a full moon for its background. "Isn't it beautiful?" "Woah!" I almost fell off the roof. "Geez, you could've said something." "I did, didn't I? I said the city is beautiful." "Didn't know you had a poet hidden somewhere down there", I answered dryly. Raphael's cheeks turned a shade greener. Was he... was he blushing? I grinned. "Being shy, are we?" "Am not!" he responded irritated. He quickly shot a glance over his shoulders. To check if the rest hadn't heard or seen anything, I realised. He really was shy, in a weird way. "Sorry", I offered. Silence. I looked sideways and saw Raphael looking down. Down at the streets, the people there, having dinner in fancy restaurants, dancing in clubs, having get-togethers in their houses... He's sad, I realised. "What are you looking down at, man?" He looked at me. "Look up. Look at the sky, it's beautiful tonight! So many stars that are shining down on us, accompanied by the moon..." My voice trailed off. "Quite the poet yourself, huh?" I could practically hear the grin in his voice. "Guess I am", I answered softly. Again, silence. The others were still eating pizza, or well - from the sounds of it, it seemed like Donnie and Leo were trying to get their pizza back from Mikey. "Sorry 'bout tonight." I looked at him, surprised. "I... I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. It's just.. I don't... I'm not..." I said nothing. "I just don't like being called a freak, OK!" he blurted out. Oops. I should have realised that one must have hurt. "I'm sorry", I said softly. "I should've known. I just... I guess I wasn't thinking then. I was kinda startled by being saved by giant turtles." He snorted, then laughed. "Yeah, I guess that doesn't happen every night, does it?" He looked at me. I shook my head. "Nope. Neither does having pizza with the turtles who saved me on top of the one of the tallest buildings of the city. And having a conversation with one of those turtles named Raphael _on _that building also doesn't make it to the list of my regular activities as night." He laughed. "Just Raph is alright, you know. Only Master Splinter calls us by our full names." "Master Splinter?" "Our father. Well, not technically, or biologically, or whatever. I mean, he's a rat after all and-" "Wait, what?" I interrupted. "There's more?" "More what?" "You know... Mutants." "For a minute there, I thought you were gonna say 'freaks'." "I wouldn't _dare_!" I said, pretending to be offended. "You don't look like someone you wanna mess with." A smile tugged at his lips. "Only when you're trying to hurt my brothers, or my father." "They're your brothers?" "What else should they be?" "I don't know." I paused. "I mean, I figured you were just some guys in costumes, so I didn't really give it much thought." "Hmm. Fair enough." "Okay, so, you were telling me about Master Splinter? Your father?" "Master Splinter is awesome, dude!" Mikey sat down between us, interrupting our conversation. "He taught us ninja-stuff, and-" "Mikey, it's called ninjutsu!" Leo butted in. "Who cares? Anyway, look what I can do!" And the youngest turtle got up, and did a backflip across the gap that separated the building we had claimed as our place to have pizza and the one on the other side of the street. A gap of nine feet wide. "Careful!" I blurted out, extending my hand in an attempt to catch him. "Mikey!" I panicked. Donnie put a hand on my shoulder. "Relax, Dana. We're trained to do this." To my surprise, Mikey was standing on the other building, grinning and waving. "Mikey, get back here!" Leo whispered. "We gotta go home anyway." Right, home. The encounter with the turtles had completely driven that thought from my mind. My gleeful mood immediately disappeared. "Everything OK, Dana?" Leo had sensed it, apparently. "Yeah, yeah, definitely!" I lied. "It's been really nice meeting you!" I got up from the floor. "If you just get me down to the streets safely, I'll be on my way home." "We're not letting you go alone", Leo said. My heart sank in my chest. "We'll... walk you home." "But you always go on about being too expo-" "I mean we get her down there, she walks home, and we'll follow her across the rooftops." "Oh, right. Makes sense", Mikey said. He grinned. Again. I liked his cheerful nature; nothing seemed to get him down. I wish I could be that carefree. Unfortunately, my cares were an omnipresent part of daily life. Ignoring them didn't make them go away. "So, where do you live, Dana?" Donnie asked. "I- uhm- you really don't have to-" "Of course we do", Leo said. "It's not safe." "No, really, it's okay, I can take care of myself and-" "Yeah, we saw that", Raph snorted. "No way, girl. Just tell us, alright?" They had formed a wall of green in front of me. Panic started to grip me. "I can't, OK?" "Why not?" Leo asked. "Yeah, Dana, we just wanna thank you for the pizza!" Mikey announced. "Dana, are you OK?" "Why can't you just tell us?" "C'mon, it can't be that bad, you can tell-" "BecauseI don't _have_ a home, OK?" I shouted. I felt my eyes starting to get wet again. Damnit, I didn't want this humiliation, didn't _need_ it. I'd had enough of that for the rest of my life. The turtles blinked. Leo approached me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I- we didn't know." "It's not your fault", I answered softly. "Don't worry about it. Just... leave me be, OK? I'll be fine, don't bother." "Ooh, ooh, I got an idea!" "What is it, Mikey?" Leo said annoyed. "Let's take her home to _our _place!" My head shot up. "You guys have a home?" "Sure we do!" Mikey said. "I mean, it's in the sewers but still-" "Shut up, Mikey!" Raph hissed. "What? I was just-" I'd turned away, my back to them. Even they had a home. They were giant mutant turtles, mutant ninja turtles, for crying out loud, and even _they _had a home! The world was so freaking unfair! I, too, wanted to be able to go home every day, to have people waiting for me when I got back, to have my own room, my own bed, a warm place to return to... My eyes widened. Seriously, I scolded myself, you're saying you're being treated unfair? What about them? They're freaking _turtles_! They can't even show themselves on the street... What am I whining about? A tear trickled down my cheek. It was too much to hold in, the stress of the past few years, the stupid world we lived in, the fear I'd been living with- I felt strong arms embrace me and before I knew what was happening, I felt myself being scooped up from the roof. "You're coming home with us", Raph said. I could feel the humming of his voice in his chest. He grinned. "As if we'd give you a choice!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Okay, this was weird. I mean, my whole night had been weird but this was even... well, weirder. After carrying me over the rooftops for at least twenty minutes (in which I couldn't help but wonder at the strength of Raphael's arms, or his stamina. I wasn't exactly the thinnest girl out there), Raphael had gently put me down on the ground in a deserted alley. Although he didn't look it, his touch had be surprisingly soft, and gentle. Must be more to him than meet the eyes. Meanwhile, Donnie had been taking the lid off an entrance to what could only be the sewers, judged by the smell of it. "In there?" I asked hesitantly. "Eyup", Mikey said. "Just do it like us!" and jumped down the hole with those words. "Come on, I'll help you", Donnie offered and extended his hand toward me. I took it, no trace of hesitation on my mind. I realised I had gone from not-trusting-them-at-all-mostly-because-they-looked-like-aliens-or-guys-in-costumes to relying on them with everything I had. I didn't know I was still capable of trusting people. Ehm, turtles. Well, anyone, I mean. I still hadn't completely decided how I should think of them. They weren't exactly people but they were also more than turtles... In the short time I'd known them (which was, to be precise, about two hours), I'd already discovered that they all had a very different personality. Strangely, those personalities didn't seem to get in the way of teamwork, not when it really mattered. I let Donnie carry me down the ladder. "We're here, Dana", he said. "Ah, thanks." I let him go and landed on the ground with a soft thud. "Mikey, lead the way!" Leo said, who closed the line. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet - it was much darker than above ground, where at least the stars and the moon were there to shine some light upon the earth. Here, sight was useless, yet I didn't hear the turtles trip once. "You must be- wow!" I said, tripping over some unevenness in the ground. I grabbed onto the turtle in front of me, who grabbed my shoulder. "Careful", Raph whispered. "And try to be silent. Even though we've been here a million times, there might still be things out there we don't know about." I nodded. When no answer came, I realised he couldn't see me. "Sorry", I whispered. "I'll try to but I just can't seem to- aah!" My ankle twisted in a very unpleasant way. "Aah", I moaned, trying to keep it down. I heard Raph drop down next to me. "Are you OK?" he asked softly. "Yes, it's just- my ankle, I think I've sprained it." Raph accidentally leaned on my hurt ankle. "Aaaah!" I gasped. "_Don't!_" "Keep it down!" "I'm trying to but someone had to put pressure on my injured ankle!" "Quiet!" Leo's voice suddenly sounded from behind me. "I think there's something following us... Raph, you come with me. Donnie?" Leo hissed into the darkness. "Yeah, I'm here!" "You and Mikey take Dana home, OK?" "What about you and Raph?" "We'll go track down whatever it is that's chasing us, and then come home." "OK." Donnie took me in his arms. "Just be careful, OK?" I noticed the genuine concern in his voice. "Always am", came Leo's assuring answer. "See you soon", Donnie whispered. "Mikey, let's go." "OK!"

The light came as a surprised and I shot up, immediately awake. "Woah, where I am- what is- who?" "Take it easy, Dana. It's okay." Looking up, I saw Donnie. "We're in our lair now but you fell asleep on our way here and I didn't wanna wake you." I smiled. "That's okay." I looked around me. "Where are we?" "Like I said, this is our home. Or lair, as we also call it." It was a huge room, more of a hall, in which several tunnels ended. Although I hadn't forgotten this place was located somewhere in the sewers, the red bricks, the lamps, the casually scattered around mess - comic books, gaming devices, wooden swords, weights, empty pizza boxes, cans of soda - made it feel very cosy and, well, homely, to me. The finishing touch to this welcoming feeling were the pictures of the turtles and a giant rat who I presumed to be Master Splinter on the walls. They must be a close family, I thought. Donny carried me to the couch which was situated opposite a TV and gently lowered me onto it. "I'll go tell Master Splinter we're home", he said. "Mikey!" "Yeah?" "Stop stuffing your face with pizza and go grab some bandages and an ice pack for Dana!" "On it!"  
>I sat up from my lying position to get another good look at the turtles' home. I spotted a pinball machine, a small kitchen, a room filled with rugs, weapons and weights. I noticed four doors, each with a sheet of paper on it which said 'Raphael', 'Donatello', 'Michelangelo' and 'Leonardo', respectively. The doors were adorned with other things as well; Raph's was filled with posters from movies, Leo had used Japanese characters and proverbs to decorate his door. There was a lot of room left on those two doors, whereas Mikey's door had become invisible from all the pictures of comic books he had stapled to the wood, and Donnie's looked like a school board from a very, very complicated science or math class. I also spotted some blueprints. I smiled. They were all really unique, and not just in being teenage - I was pretty sure about that part now, too, although I hadn't asked how old they were - mutant ninja turtles. "Dana-san." The soft, gentle yet stern voice came from a silhouette in the shadows. The figure stepped forward and exposed whiskers, a snout, large ears and a long, hairless tail. In other words: a giant rat. And by giant, I mean huge. He towered above Donnie and Mikey both, the difference in height being at least a foot. I noticed the Japanese honorific he'd attached to my name. I bowed, hands crossed over my chest; a sign of respect in the Japanese culture. Master Splinter chuckled. "You were raised well, young lady", he remarked. I grimaced. "Not really... Splinter-sensei, I take it?" He nodded. "I just learned some Japanese a while ago." "Leonardo will find that very interesting", he said, approval colouring his voice. "He, too, has been studying the country and the language of my youth." "You're from Japan?" "Hai." "Hajimemasthe. Dana desu." "Hajimemasthe, yoroshiku onegaishimasu." I smiled. Who'd have thought my course Japanese might come actually come in handy some day? Master Splinter smiled, too, but his eyes soon turned grave. "Donatello told me about your encounter, and your home situation." I looked at Donnie, who smiled encouragingly. Good news, apparently. "And I have agreed it is safer for you to stay here", he announced in a stern voice. "At least for a while." Gratitude flooded me. "Thank you so much", I said. "That means a lot to me." But however tempting this offer was, I knew I wasn't going to stay. I didn't want to bother them. I'd gather my strength, spend the night here, heal my ankle tomorrow, and then leave. Splinter turned toward Donnie. "Now, Donatello, would you please tell me where your brothers are?" "Leo thought he heard something following us, so he and Raph stayed back to take care of it", Donnie answered truthfully. "Very well. We will await their return. If they do not get back in half an hour, we shall go looking for them." "Hai, sensei." "Michelangelo", Splinter said, raising his voice, "where are you? We need those bandages!" I smiled. Staying here for the night wouldn't be so bad.<p>

Raph and Leo slipped from corner to corner, relying on their sense of touch, smell and hearing; sight had been taken away from them by the darkness. They'd gone back to the place where they'd entered the sewer, examined the surrounding tunnels and, having found nothing conspicuous, were now on their back to the lair. Raph could see the darkness becoming lighter ahead of them. Suddenly, Leo stopped in his tracks and Raph bumped into him. "Ah! What did you do that for?" he said annoyed. "You could've given a heads-up!" Leo didn't respond. "What is it, Leo?" Raph sighed. "Wanna lecture me again about something? What did I do wrong _this _time?" Ever since they'd gone up to the surface, Leo had been nagging non-stop about every little thing he did wrong. He wasn't silent enough, not fast enough, should've paid more attention, watch Donnie and Mikey more closely, he shouldn't rush into fights like that, he was impatient… The list seemed to be endless, and every time Leo seemed to have found something else to add to it. His brother, however, surprised him. "What was up with you today? Being all soft on that girl?" "Whaddaya mean?" "Well, it's just that, normally, you're pretty hostile towards strangers. Take April for example; you didn't even wanna help her in the beginning. And now this other girl shows up, and you just decide you're okay with taking her home? What's up with that?" "I thought I was supposed to show _compassion_", he said dryly, drawing quotation marks in the air. Another thing on the list Leo wouldn't let go; apparently, it was okay to let guys who beat up blind, old people escape. If they didn't show mercy, then why should we? "That's not what I mean, Raph." "So now that I finally show some _mercy_", he said sarcastically, "it's no good? What do you want from me, Leo?" Leo looked at him for a few seconds, then seemed to change his mind. "You know what, never mind. Forget I even asked. Let's just go, OK?" "Fine with me", Raph mumbled. "Didn't know what we were waiting for in the first place."

"... and we had to draw pig hearts, you know, and kidneys. Man, that stank! I didn't feel like going to the toilet for a few days after that biology class." Mikey laughed, exhilarated. "Seriously, you had to poke organs? That's awesome!" "No, it's not awesome!" I argued, heating up to the conversation, "it's gross! It's all very nice that we know how animals and people work, you know, but I don't need to have my nose pressed into a kidney smelling like pee!" Mikey shook his head. "You just don't understand, man, but that's okay." He patted me on the head, then grabbed his comic book and started reading. I just looked at him in confusion, speechless. "You'll get used to it", Donnie said. "Mikey has a very... different view of the world." "Yeah, I guess that sums it up", I laughed. "You're OK? Need another ice pack?" "Nah, I'm fine, thanks. It's gonna swell up anyway." Donnie looked worried. "But it'll heal, right?" I nodded. "Yup, definitely, it just takes a couple of days." I felt guilty about the lie; I wouldn't be staying that long. "OK, good, permanent damage to your ankle wouldn't be very nice", Donnie responded relieved. I felt another twinge of guilt. Why were they so worried about me? I didn't deserve that, I hadn't done anything! In fact, I'd been passive as hell, getting saved and carried all the time.  
>A sound behind me stopped my train of thoughts, and I turned around to look. It were Leo and Raph, hopping over the what used to be subway gates, apparently uninjured. There was a tension between them; they refused to look at each other and kept their distance. "Did they have a fight again?" Mikey asked Donnie in a small voice. "Yeah, probably..." "Does that happen a lot?" I asked. "<em>All. The. Time<em>", Donnie answered annoyed. "Yeah, you have no idea, Dana! This one time, they were up on the roof and they were fighting, and it was raining, and we just had to-" "What are you whispering about?" Raph growled. "That's considered rude in company, you know." "Nothing", Donnie said, making an innocent face. "Well, actually, we were talking about y- aagh!" Mikey rubbed his head. "What did you do that for, Donnie?" "Where's Leo?" I asked. He'd disappeared immediately after entering the lair. "Don't know, don't care", Raph responded. "Raphael!" Splinter's voice came from the room with all the rugs. Raph sighed. "Ugh, here we go again..." Shoulders slumping, he stood up and made his way across the room. He slammed the door shut behind him.  
>"Sorry about all that", Donnie offered. "It's okay, I'm used to it." Donnie looked quizzically at me. "Well, I haven't been homeless my whole life, you know." The green of his face got a shade darker. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" I laughed. "No, it's OK, really, you couldn't know." "So you used to have a home? A-and a family?" I nodded. "Yep. I've only been living on the streets for a year or so, not that long. Anyway, I used to have three brothers, a younger one and two older ones. My older brothers used to fight all the time. No matter what it was about, they didn't agree about anything. It drove me and David mad! And then we'd get in a fight with them about the fact that <em>they <em>were fighting." I laughed at the memory. "A bit of a vicious circle, I guess." Donnie was smiling. "Tell me about it, it's exactly the same with Raph and Leo." "But you still make a pretty good team together", I remarked. "Yeah, I guess... Though it's happened often enough that their quarrel got in the way of our battle." I didn't respond, as I was losing myself in the world that had been mine before the car accident happened, before the walls of that world caved in. I saw the six of us sitting at the table, me reading, while David tugged at my sleeve for attention, Leon and Theo playing video games in the background - without bickering, for a change - Mum and Dad reading the paper. Another memory flashed to live: watching Scrooge with the whole family on Christmas Eve. It'd been a tradition for as long as I could remember. The popcorn would be in the microwave, the bottles of soda on the table, me and Leon sharing a couch, Theo and David claiming the other one. We never left room for Mum and Dad and though it took some arguing, Mum and Dad had always endured it with a smile on their lips. I think they liked fighting for their space on the couch, for some reason.  
>"Dana?" "Hmm, what?" I looked up disturbed. "Sorry, I was just..." Donnie put his arms around my shoulders. "You don't need to tell me, OK?" I nodded. The motion made the freshly-produced tears leave my eyes. They left a wet, salty trail on my cheek but I didn't wipe it away. I was done being strong.<p>

Raph emerged from the room and was about to call out to his brothers when he saw Donnie and Dana huddled together on the couch. Mikey was still reading his comic book, oblivious to his surroundings. What was going on? Wasn't Donnie supposed to have a thing for April? He sighed. He didn't feel like avoiding anyone; after the speech he'd gotten from Splinter, he felt like company. "Go find a room, you two", he announced himself, and sat down on the floor. "You know, Donnie, I thought you had a th-" "Just shut up." Raph blinked. Donnie usually wasn't the one to react like that, that was _his_ job. He looked really mad now, though. "Geez, fine, I'll just.." "She's crying, alright? How about being nice, for a change?" Only now did Raph notice Dana's propped-up knee, her arms slung around it (her other leg was resting on a chair because of her ankle), her face hidden in her arms, hair obscuring whatever would have been left visible. She raised her head. "Like what you see, huh?" She sounded hostile. "Geez, sorry! Can't catch a break.." Raph mumbled under his breath as he stood up. "How was I supposed to know you're weeping like a four-year-old?" "Raph!" Donnie shouted. "Leave her alone!" "Never mind, Donnie. He just needs other people's misery to live on, he's like a vampire, you know." Au. That hurt. He quickly turned around but it must have shown in his face, because Dana quickly called out to him: "Sorry, I didn't mean that. You just... caught me at a bad time. I-I shouldn't take it out on others." She sighed, collecting herself. "No hard feelings?" Raph turned back his head. She really had been crying; her puffed-up, blood-shot eyes were enough proof of that. "Maybe a little", he said. "I can handle a little", she answered, then laughed. "What's so funny?" "You." He raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. When none came, he sat down again, looking for a way to lighten the mood. "So... how's your ankle doing?" "It's okay", Dana answered. "It'll need a couple of- hey, you're bleeding!" "I am?" he said, uninterested. "Yeah, there's a cut on your cheek." He touched his face; his hand came back red and wet. "Yep", he agreed. "That's blood." "That's gonna need stitches", Donnie said. Raph sighed. "Damn it, not again! That's the third time this week!" "Then stop getting hurt, moron", Donnie responded. "No can do, Donnie. That's one of the conditions of being a ninja." They stared at each other in silence. "Maybe... maybe you don't need stitches?" "What do you mean? Can't you see it's a pretty big cut?" Donnie responded immediately. "Yeah, I can see that, it's just.. I, ehm, I could... you know... heal it", Dana said. "If you like", she added hastily. "Heal it?" Raph said. "What are you talking about?" She was quiet for a moment. "It might be better to just show you", she said finally. "Just an explanation won't do." "And you've done this before?" Dana shrugged. "Yeah." "Dana, that's not possible! You're saying you can heal by touch?" Donnie cut in. "Y-yeah." "No, you can't! That's impossible! It goes against every nature of law-" "If Raph would just let me heal him, I could prove it", she said calmly. She knocked on Donnie's head. "Open up your mind a little, Donnie. Not everything in there is what the world is made of." She looked at Raph. "So, you're up for it?" He eyed her with suspicion. Healing by touch? What the hell? Then again, he was a giant, talking, humanoid turtle. He'd seen weirder things. And even if she meant ill, she was disabled, she couldn't go far. I doubt she wants to hurt me, though, Raph caught himself thinking. "Yeah, sure, what the hell. Let's do it."

"It's not gonna work", Donnie said. "It couldn't possibly work." "Where's your scientific curiosity?" I asked smiling. "Now sshh, I need to concentrate!" I turned to Raph. "Could you come sit over here? I can't really move." I gestured to my ankle. "Sure." Raph got up from the floor and seated himself on the couch. Donnie had stood up and was now eyeing us with a distrustful look on his face, arms crossed in front of his chest. I grinned. I'd show him. I put my hand up, moved it to Raph but hesitated. "You don't mind, do you?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Heal by _touch_, you know." "Oh. Right." His cheeks turned just the slightest bit darker green. "Go ahead." I nodded, not willing to break my concentration by speaking. Closing my eyes, I put my hand on his cheek. The rubbery texture surprised me. It wasn't that I hadn't been touched by one of the turtles before, I mean, they'd carried me all the way here but I just hadn't been paying close attention. It was really strange; his skin felt a bit like rubber and normal human skin at the same time. My eyes flew open. "You're hot!" I exclaimed. "Wh-what did you...?" Raph sputtered, taken aback. Now it was my turn to blush. "You're warm, I mean. Hot-blooded." He looked at me, confusion written all over his face. "Because we're turtles, Raph. Turtles are reptiles, reptiles are cold-blooded, you know?" "Oh, right. Yeah, I knew that", he said defensively. "Guess it's one of the many things the mutagen changed about us", Donnie said. I nodded and closed my eyes again. This time, knowing what to expect, I didn't hesitate when I put my hand on Raph's cheek. I could feel the blood, which had already dried up a bit. Underneath, I felt the cut, the broken tissue. I concentrated on sending all the energy in my body to my hand, focused all my attention on that point. Collect, radiate, repair. Collect, radiate, repair. Collect, radiate, repair. I continued to repeat the mantra in my head until I felt the skin closing under my hand, the tissue knitting back together. When I was sure there was no trace of the cut left, I removed my hand and fell back into the couch, panting. I cracked one eye open and grinned up to Donnie, whose expression was priceless. If he was a snake, his jaw would be hitting the ground now. "What about your laws of nature now, Donatello?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"That was amazing! Where did you learn that?" Raph exclaimed. He touched his cheek in disbelief, checked for blood, then repeated the action. But I was too tired to answer. Healing always took up all of my energy, considering my energy was what I'd just sent into Raph's body, forcing the tissue to grow back. I should practice more, I thought. At this rate, it's gonna cost me a whole week to muster the energy to heal my ankle, and another week to recover from the healing itself! Wait... My ankle! I shot up. Fuck, I'd completely forgotten about that. "Shit", I swore under my breath and let myself sink back in the cushions. Now I have to bother them another few days with my company. I didn't want to be a burden. I sighed. No helping it now. And anyway, I was glad I could help someone who helped _me_. Guess I wasn't so useless after all. I grinned. Though thin, at least there _was_ a silver lining to the cloud that was my life. "What just happened?" Mikey had entered our world again, so it seemed. "She... she healed me", Raph said, not even trying to hide the awe in his voice. "Wow! Awesome! How? Can you heal me, too?" "Mikey, there's nothing wrong with you." "Oh. Right." His face showed a look of disappointment so genuine it caused me a fit of laughter. When I had recovered, I told him: "Don't worry, Mikey, I'm sure you'll get hurt somewhere in the near future." Raph snorted. "Yeah, definitely, he's living with me!" I smiled. "I suppose so." I turned to Donnie. "So, what do you-" Oops. I turned back to Raph. "I think we broke Donnie." "Oooh." Mikey again. He hopped over the couch and studied Donnie for a full minute, in which Raph and I looked at each other, eyes rolling. Mikey decided to poke Donnie. Not just once, or twice. No. He poked his older brother for a full three minutes until Donnie finally seemed to wake up. His eyes were still huge. "What. The. Heck", was all he could say. I laughed and couldn't stop laughing, and was soon joined by Raph and Mikey. "What's this all about?" Leo's voice suddenly sounded. For once, Raph didn't seem to mind his older brother. "Leo, check it out! Donnie's gone catatonic!" "What?" "Look, you can poke him all you want, he doesn't respond!" Mikey shouted and demonstrated this by jabbing his finger into Donnie's side a few times. I could see Leo trying to keep his cool but a smile was appearing on his face. "What caused this?" "Yes", Splinter's voice suddenly boomed through the room, cutting off our laughter instantly, "please do tell. Raphael?" "He's OK, sensei." "I'd still like to know what happened." Raph hesitated. "Well, to make a long story short, Dana healed the cut on my cheek... by... touch." Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Touch?" "Hai, sensei." "You should've been there, Master Splinter!" Mikey cut in. "You weren't even watching, doofus!" Raph argued. "Oh. Right." I smiled. He was really so much like David, getting all caught up in the excitement and omitting the most important part because of that. David took joy in everything in life, just like Mikey. Master Splinter still did not look convinced, and neither did Leo. Raph turned to his brother. "Look, you saw the cut on my cheek, didn't you?" Leo nodded. "And do you see how _it's not there anymore_?" Leo pondered this. "I can't really argue with that", he admitted. "Well, if this is true", Splinter began, "then this is a very precious and useful ability." I nodded. "I know." "Where did you learn this? Who taught you?" "Nobody taught me how to do that. I just... happened to stumble upon it, once. It was a very long time ago." "Hmm." Luckily, sensing I didn't want to talk about it, he let it go. "Who's hungry?" "I am!" Mikey shouted. "Can we have pizza for dinner, sensei? Pleeeeaaase?" "It's not dinner, Mikey. It's like 1 in the morning!" "Doesn't matter! Can we have pizza, Master Splinter?" "Of course. If you order it." "On it!" Mikey said, phone already in his hand. "So, what kind of pizzas do we want?"

"So, Leo, Master Splinter told me you're studying Japanese?" Leo looked pleasantly surprised. "Yeah, I am. You too, I take it?" I nodded. "Yep, just finished my first course, so I'm not that good. Yet." I laughed with my mouth full of pizza. "Oops, sorry." Leo waved my apology away. "Don't worry, Mikey's like that all the time." "Am not!" "You are!" Donnie and Raph said in unison. "So have you discussed the Edo-period yet?" I asked Leo, ignoring the quarrel in the background. As I engaged in conversation with Leo, dinner seemed to fly by. I recognised a lot of myself in the leader in blue. He was a diligent student, took his responsibilities seriously, whether they concerned his training or his brothers. He loved his family; although he didn't explicitly say so, the way he talked about them and brought up anecdotes said enough. I found myself smiling throughout the conversation. It was only after the table had been cleared that I realised my happiness didn't just stem from my conversation with Leo. I was happy because it felt good to be in a family again, to have someone to talk to during dinner, to have someone be genuinely interested in me. It seemed I should be grateful to them for more than rescuing me in that alley.

"Don't you wanna watch your lame show?" Raph teased. "'Space Heroes' is starting in ten minutes." "Nah, it's okay, I've seen it a thousand times already, anyway. I was gonna show Dana some books about Japan, I can miss it." Raph's eyes widened. "Come on, Dana", Leo said to her. He took her up in his arms and carried her to his room. Raph ground his teeth. Why did this annoy him so much? What was that twinge in his stomach? He hadn't only felt it during dinner (well, technically, their midnight-snack) when Dana and Leo had been constantly talking, looking sincerely interested in what the other had to say, Dana leaning her chin on her hand, cocking her head to the side, but he'd also felt it when he saw Donnie hugging Dana on the couch, and just now, when Leo went off with Dana, he'd felt it again. It drove him up the wall, both the fact that this twinge, this kick in his stomach was there, and the fact that he couldn't figure out what it was. Not exactly, anyway.  
>"Aren't you glad Leo doesn't wanna watch his show? Now we can finally watch something else!" Donnie said. "Yeah, yeah. Just turn on the TV." Donnie shrugged. "Whatever."<br>After a few minutes, nothing interesting had showed up on the screen and Raph decided to pick up his comic book again. Naturally being interested in mutants since he was one himself, he'd taken a liking to Spiderman, although he felt like the guy could handle his villains a whole lot better. He opened the comic book, only to find Spiderman kissing his girlfriend upside down, hanging from a self-created web. Ugh, why did they have to ruin such a good comic with the romance stuff? He was about to toss it away when he changed his mind. Gotta get through this stuff sometime, anyway, he figured, if I want to get on with the rest of the story. He spent the next half hour reading the comic book, getting dragged into Spiderman's relationship gradually. A few pages in, he had to admit it was pretty interesting. What drove that girl to have a relationship with a mutant who was secretly a superhero? "As if anyone wants that", he muttered. "It's probably fiction for a reason." "What did you say, Raph?" Donnie asked. "Ehm, nothing. Just that the Spiderman-series are better than what I expected." Even if he didn't think such relationships would work out in the long term, he didn't want to ruin Donnie's hope. He knew his younger brother had a huge crush on April and he didn't want to burst his bubble. Finding that the two of them wouldn't work was something his nerdy brother had to figure out on his own. "... so I still haven't really gotten the hang of kanji yet, it's just so much harder than hiragana!" Dana's voice came from behind him. "Yeah, I know, just keep practicing. I can always help you, if you want", he offered. "Oh, that'd be great!" Raph moved over to make room for Dana as Leo lowered her onto the couch. She yawned. "Man, I'm tired", she said, snuggling some deeper into the pillows. Leo touched her arm. "I'll get you some blankets." "Thanks", Dana said sleepily. "Anything good on TV?" she asked. "Raph?" "Huh, what?" "Talking to you. Anything good on TV?" "Oh. Nah. Haven't been watching, really." "What have you been doing then, for the past ninety minutes?" Wait, it'd been an hour and a half already? He frowned. "I don't know, really. Read some comic books and then.. I guess I've been napping or something." "What're you reading?" "Spiderman." "Any good?" "Yeah, pretty good. Until the romantic stuff comes in." He could practically feel Dana's eyes watching him. "Don't you think that's what makes it good?" she asked quietly. "Of course not! I just wanna see some guys get beaten up, not some sappy stuff about a girl he may or may not be in love with", he grumbled. Why was he lying? He had found the whole romance thing pretty intriguing, why didn't he say so? "Hmm. That's another view, I guess." "So you like the romantic stuff?" "Yeah, definitely! Especially when it comes to Spiderman and other... you know..." "Mutants?" "...Yes. Mutants. It's just interesting to see how the relationship begins, what drives them, you know?" "OK, maybe I get that a little." Dana laughed. "I can handle a little, remember?" In spite of himself, he laughed, too. "Guess that's true." "Seriously, though... No hard feelings anymore, right?" Her voice had turned grave. "No hard feelings", Raph agreed and he shook her extended hand. "There you go!" Dana disappeared under a pile of blankets and pillows. "Oef!" She shook her head to free herself and looked up. "You could've given a heads-up, you know!" Leo stuck out his tongue. "Nah, where would be the fun in that?" He dropped down beside the couch. "Fair enough", Dana admitted and suddenly smashed one of the pillows into his face. "You're right, this is more fun!" Raph grinned. She had guts, he had to hand it to her. And speed, too. Leo smiled. "Yeah, like that." He handed her the pillow. "Need anything? I'm gonna turn in, Splinter's probably going to have us train our asses off tomorrow, you know." The last part was addressed to his younger brother. "I know. I'm not gonna stay up too late, no worries." Leo shrugged. "OK. Good night." "Wait, where is the rest?" Raph yawned. "They went to bed a while ago, when you were with Leo." "Ah, didn't notice." They sat in silence for a while, switching from channel to channel. Once, they came upon a porn channel and Raph quickly switched to the next channel. Right, things that people liked to watch at this time of the night... "Sorry", he mumbled. "Donnie can't get rid of it." "Can't, or doesn't want to?" He looked at her. "That's something you're implying there, you know", he answered. "Besides, he has a thing for April. I doubt he'd look at anyone else, nude or not." "April?" He scratched his head. "Yeah, she's a friend of ours. You'll probably meet her tomorrow, she hangs out here a lot." "Think he's got a chance?" "Who?" "Donnie. With April."

Raph hesitated. "I don't know. I mean, he is, you know.. he's still a turtle, after all." "Yeah, guess that's true", I said. I felt my eyelids starting to droop. I decided to save them the effort and closed them. Some weight was taken off the couch, and I knew Raph had stood up. "OK, I'm going to bed." "Hmhm." "Sure you don't need anything?" I managed to open my eyes and found Raph staring down at me, concern showing on his face. "Hmhm", was all I could force out of my mouth. "OK. Well, then... Good night." As he walked past me, I grabbed his hand. He froze. "Don't leave", I muttered. "Please. I don't want to be alone." I didn't care what he thought of me, I just couldn't stand the idea of having to spend the night on my own in this room, in the sewers. "Are you scared?" the hothead teased. "I am." My honest response seemed to take him aback. I closed my eyes again. I trusted Raphael to stay with me. Because he's sweet, I thought. Well, not in the usual sense of the word, though, but still. My thoughts seemed incoherent as I slipped into sleep. I heard the couch creak and felt Raph sit down. I smiled. He turned off the TV. "Thank you", I whispered into the dark. His answer came to me very faintly, barely audible. "You're welcome." And for the first time in years, I did not have a nightmare.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Yawning, I opened my eyes and stretched out. "Aaah!" I gasped, and shot up. Forgot my ankle, oops. For a moment, I didn't know where I was, and I started to panic. Had some guys drugged me, dragged me off into an alley? I narrowed my eyes, trying to make sense of my surroundings. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. "Oh! Watch where you put your feet!" someone growled next to me, and my heart skipped a beat. "What the…" And then it all came back to me. The fight in the streets, the turtles, the sewers… No wonder I'd almost forgotten, it was so absurd. "Sorry", I whispered. "Kinda forgot where I was." My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I now recognised the room. I realised I was looking for daylight, scanning the walls for windows but of course, there were none. I moaned. "What time is it?" "5 am." I'd only slept a few hours, apparently. "Man, I'm hungry." "Again?" Raph said. "You're like Mikey!" "Sorry", I said, though I wasn't really. "I'll go see if there's some pizza left", Raph said, and stood up from the couch. "Could you get the lights?" I half whispered, half shouted to him. He didn't respond but the lights turned on a few seconds later. "Thanks." I sat up straight and rubbed the remnants of sleep from my eyes. "OK, we got pepperoni, tuna, jelly beans-" "Jelly beans?" "Mikey likes it." "Mikey's weird." "Won't argue with you on that", he said grinning. "Tuna's fine!" I shouted. "Ssh! Keep it down! Leo's gonna kill me if someone wakes him up." "Sorry." Raph put the pizza in the microwave and carried the plate back to the couch when it was done. He slumped down on the couch. "Want some?" he asked. "Yup." "You'll have to give me some answers first, then." I cocked an eyebrow. "I'm eighteen, my favourite kind of pastry is carrotcake, I don't like coffee, I hate Jersey Shore, I love cooking, have a passion for books and Japan, for some reason, and have still not given up of learning to play the guitar. Now gimme some pizza!" and snatched a slice of the plate in his lap. "Hey!" Raph protested. "Those were answers, right?" "Not the kind I wanted!" "Well, you should have been more specific then. First thing they teach you in high school." "Ugh, you're like Donnie." I laughed. "I think he's still in shock, so not really, sorry." He glowered at me. "Fine, then don't talk. Here." He threw the hot plate into my lap. "Have your pizza." I glanced at him, surprised by his sudden mood swing, but he was stubbornly staring ahead into the distance. I shrugged and started eating the slices of pizza, all the while feeling guiltier and guiltier. He – they – had been so nice to me, I could at least answer a few questions, right? It wouldn't kill me. But I don't want to talk about it! my other side argued. It? Just, you know, me. My past, my life. These guys saved your life, the reasonable side remarked. You could at least try to return the favour. I sighed. "OK, fine, but you only get three questions, got it?" Raph stayed silent, still mad, but I decided to wait him out. I'd come half way, now he could meet me there.  
>As the silence grew longer, I thought the red-clad turtle might never speak again. My head was lolling around on my shoulders when he finally spoke up. "Where did you learn to heal?" he asked slowly. Ugh, really? I'd been fearing this question: the answer was inextricably entwined with some memories I did not care to recall ever again, but I'd also expected it – after all, healing wasn't a skill you just picked up anywhere. I closed my eyes, got a hold of myself, opened them again. "OK, well, ehm, where to begin?" I was silent for a minute, as was Raph. "Let's just say I didn't learn it under the best of circumstances." He looked at me quizzically. I sighed, put my good leg on the couch, wrapped my arms around it and leaned my chin on my knee. "There were these bullies in our neighbourhood, a long time ago. Like, six or seven years. Anyway, my brothers-" "You have brothers?" "Had." Raph was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry", he said. "Me, too." For a minute, I struggled to keep tears from forming, "Anyway, they were going to a different school than me, so I always had to go to school alone… And that's when the bullying began. I still don't know why they picked me, I mean, I didn't ever do anything, except for sitting quietly in a corner…" I made a fist. After all these years, just mentioning Andrew and his 'gang' still pissed me off. "It was just little things at first, you know? Tearing up my homework, humiliating me in class, taping messages to my back, dumping my keys in the toilet… But that, I could take. I could handle it. I mean, I didn't like, hated it guts, but whenever I'd get home, I could forget it." I sighed. "You know, at home, I could pretend it didn't exist. <em>They <em>didn't exist." I frowned. "But then, one day, the small things weren't enough for Andrew and his little followers anymore, and, well, they cornered me after school, in some deserted alley, with no-one around. And they just.. t-they just beat me up. And I don't mean a few little, soft punches, I mean broken-ribs-and-eye-sockets kind of beaten up", I said grimly. After that, I fell silent again, remembering that gloomy afternoon, those boys towering over me, kicking and punching me until I fell to the ground. I looked to Raph and caught him staring at me wide-eyed. "Why would anyone ever do that?" he said, frowning. "I mean, busting heads, sure, call me anytime for that, but something like that... That's different. Why beat up an innocent girl?" I shrugged. "Dunno. I don't think there was any other reason than intimidating each other and having fun. Their idea of fun, anyway." "Who. Are. These. Guys?" he suddenly hissed through his teeth. "I am going to _kill_ them Raph stood up and his hands reached for his weapons. "Raph, _don't_", I said. "How can you _say_ that!" he exploded. "After what they did to you! I should kick their ass so bad they won't ever be wal-" I grabbed his arm. "Sit _down!_" I commanded. For some reason, he listened. "It's no _use_, beating them up. It won't make my memories go away, it won't change the past!" "That doesn't _matter_", he snapped. "It does!" I said. He tried to rise from the couch again, but I refused to let go of his arm. "Look, Raph, let it go!" "Give me one good reason why I should!" And that shut me up. I couldn't think of any. Raph was right: I _wanted_ those guys to pay for what they did to me. But that's wrong! the reasonable voice shouted, taking over my head again. I know that! I argued. "But I just want them to pay!" "See? That does it", Raph said grimly, "I'm gonna find him." Damn it, seemed like I had said that out loud. "Raph, don't!" "Again: why not, huh?" he said pissed off. "Because it's just wrong! And you don't even know these guys, or me!" I breathed heavily. "Look, just let it go, OK? Beating them up isn't gonna change anything." I looked at him, hoping my eyes could achieve what my words couldn't. He stood in dilemma for a few moments, then sighed deeply and settled back onto the couch. "OK. Fine. But only because you asked me to." "Thank you." I focused on my breathing for a moment, and locked my anger and sadness somewhere inside my soul. I hated feeling like this, drained of energy and happiness. Ugh. "OK, I know this might not be the moment to ask, but…" Raph hesitated. "Yes?" "That still doesn't tell me how you learned to heal." I laughed. "What's so funny?" "Just that I had completely forgotten about that. At least this whole thing has sort of a point, you know." He just looked at me, asking me to clarify. "I'm not just telling it without a reason. I'm not recalling all this shit just because my mind felt like it; I'm telling someone something about myself", I explained. "Get it?" Raph nodded. "Sorta." "OK, so anyway, after they, you know, left me there, I couldn't get up and I didn't want to, anyway. I felt like it was my fault that they had done this, I felt like I deserved it, could've seen it coming, for some reason." "Why?" I shrugged. "Still don't know. I just know people can make you believe anything when you're twelve, and they happened to make me believe I shouldn't even be alive." I heard Raph growl very softly. I laughed again. "Stop laughing! You're telling a serious story here!" "I know, I know", I said. "It's just... it's been a while since anyone got so angry about what happened to me, is willing to stand up for me, you know. My brothers and parents passed away four years ago, and I've been on my own ever since." I paused again to get myself together. Telling all this took more than I expected. "Anyway, because of that, I didn't want to go home and tell my parents what happened. I didn't want them to see me like this. So I just lay there, touching my broken bones carefully, and somehow, the broken bones weren't broken anymore after a while. So that really was the first time, although I didn't realise it then." I looked at him. "It was only later that I actually learned to heal on purpose, you know. I still think it was some sort of self-defense mechanism. It's just weird that I seem to be the only one to have such a thing." A grin appeared on my face. "It's also how I got a serious phobia for broken bones." "OK, I'll bite: how's that funny?" "Nah, I'm just making fun of myself. Just some self-mockery. You could use some, too, you know?" "Hey!" "See? Your temper is so bad, how can you_ not_ make fun of that every now and then?" He scowled. "I have three brothers who take care of that, trust me." For a moment, we just sat on the couch without saying anything. Raph broke the silence: "Thank you." I blinked. "For what?" "Telling me. Your past, I mean. Or at least part of it." I smiled. "It actually feels pretty good, to be honest. You have no idea how long it's been since I've had anything that even resembles a conversation with someone." "Didn't you go to school or something?" I raised my eyebrows. "I did. So?" "Don't you meet, you know, people there?" "Yeah, sure, but that doesn't mean you can actually talk to them." He studied me for a minute. "Suppose that's true." I looked around the room. "Got some chocolate?" "For what?" "I just poured out my heart to you, I need comfort food!" He smacked me on the head. "Oh, come on, I wasn't that bad a listener!" I laughed. No, you weren't, I thought to myself. Not bad at all.

"You're kidding me!" Dana exclaimed. "No way I'm gonna believe that! Alien-robots? Come on!" "No, I'm serious!" Raph said. "They were trying to take over the earth but we beat them and-" Dana gave him a playful shove. "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "OK, OK, let's _assume _that you did, so what did these 'alien-robots'", Dana said, drawing quotation marks in the air, "look like? Hypothetically speaking, of course." "Pff, you sound like Donnie, nothing hypothetical about it. They just had this frame, you know, and it was made of some sort of metal, but the alien, which looked like a brain-" She cocked an eyebrow. "OK, that's just too weird. Alien-robots, fine, but now you're telling me that the aliens are actually brains? How I am supposed to believe that?" "Just listen to me!" Raph shouted. "Why?" Dana said, laughing. "Your story's just too strange!" "You just like stepping on my toes, dontcha?" "Eyup", she said. "You're not even trying to deny it!" he said quasi-indignant. "Would you believe me if I tried?" "Well- no, but- but that's not the point!" Dana just laughed. "It's true, you know!" Mikey's voice rang through the room. "We really fought them! And we were like BOOM, and they were like NOOOOO and-" As his younger brother elaborated upon the story, he noticed the amused look Dana had. She might not believe them, but she did like to listen to their stories. He had found the feeling mutual; in fact, he even liked arguing with her. She teased as much as he did, was just as headstrong and, like him, refused to give in easily. If anything, he loved a good fight, be it with weapons or words. Leo dropped down next to him, cracking his neck. "Seems you like had a good time, you two were up almost all night." Raph frowned. "It's morning already?" "You didn't notice?" He paused, then felt his cheek warm. Dang it, what was with the blushing lately? Hopefully, Leo didn't see it. "Not really, no." Leo just looked suspicious. "Hmhm…" He decided not to respond to that. Donnie came up to him, stifling a yawn. "Dude, you look exhausted!" he said. "Been up all night?" "Yeah, most of it." "Ha, you're gonna get your butt kicked during training!" "We'll see", Raph answered, and quickly smacked his brother in the head. The purple-masked turtle just stuck out his tongue. "Seems like Dana's been up all night, too, huh?" "Whaddaya mean?" Leo pointed to his shoulder. "What are you – oh." Dana had fallen asleep, resting her head against his shoulder. He felt a flutter in his stomach. "Raph, you coming for breakfast or what?" Mikey called out from the kitchen. "Yeah, be there in a minute!" he shouted back. Gently, he lifted Dana's head from his shoulder and slipped off the couch. He put a pillow under her head and draped the blanket over her body. Only then did he cross the room to join his brothers for breakfast, his heart going just a little bit faster than usual. 


End file.
